Fake Blind Man Doesn’t See Ditch, Falls in and Dies

A man named Geoffrey Haywood, 65, claimed he was blind. He walked with a white cane and even hired people to help look after him. Whenever he was at his brother’s house for dinner, he would ask where his food was even after it had been placed directly in front of him. So it was […]

A man named Geoffrey Haywood, 65, claimed he was blind. He walked with a white cane and even hired people to help look after him. Whenever he was at his brother’s house for dinner, he would ask where his food was even after it had been placed directly in front of him.

So it was pretty sad when Haywood recently went for a walk near his home, fell into a flooded ditch and died.

The only problem was that Haywood wasn’t actually blind — at least according to doctors who couldn’t seem to find any physical explanation for why he would no longer have his vision. In fact, Haywood would even give away signs that he could see at certain times, such as picking up money immediately if it were dropped in front of him.

The only logical reasoning doctors could come up with was that his “blindness” was psychological. Haywood’s brother claims that he started showing symptoms of blindness after the death of their mother.

“I believe he used it as a way of convincing people to take pity on him and help him. It became worse the more pressure that was on him, when he was lonely or if things weren’t going his way,” his brother said.

According to the coroner, who said it was easily the most extraordinary case he’d been assigned to in his entire career, he either didn’t actually see the ditch or he didn’t want to see it.